FUCCBOIS Live in Concert
Venue: Assembly George Square, Studio 2
Date: Sunday 23 August
Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)
Reviewed by: Eileen Inglis
There’s something a little bit depressing about just how recognisable the world of FUCCBOIS Live in Concert has become. Gaslighting, ghosting, love bombing and performative feminism are now such familiar parts of modern dating culture that this Australian comedy group barely needs to explain the joke.
The mostly female cast transform themselves into a wildly successful boy band, playing their final concert in front of an adoring stadium crowd of 90,000. They have all the moves: slick choreography, strong vocals, plenty of gyrating and crotch-grabbing, and lots of winking and flirting with the audience.
Each band member has his own particular brand of toxic masculinity. One can’t stop talking about himself, another is constantly eyeing up women in the crowd, while the most insecure occasionally wonders whether he might be the problem after all.
The songs are where FUCCBOIS is at its smartest, taking familiar ideas about love and romance and applying them to the considerably less romantic reality of modern dating. Three Little Words isn’t quite the declaration of love you might expect, while Slow Fade charts the journey from intense infatuation to everlasting love to suddenly disappearing without a trace, all within a matter of weeks.
My favourite is Gaslight, a brilliantly funny take on a traditional Irish ballad. There’s also an amusing celebration of what these men believe a feminist looks like. Much of the humour comes from the gulf between how they see themselves and how they actually behave.
Long-suffering manager Michaela has clearly had enough, while a very special guest gives the band another opportunity to make everything about themselves.
I found myself smiling more often than laughing out loud, but FUCCBOIS is smart, sharply observed and very well performed. Perhaps what I found most disturbing is how little of it feels like exaggeration. I wondered whether, amongst all the laughter, there might also have been a few uncomfortable moments of recognition for some couples in the audience.
For anyone navigating modern dating, FUCCBOIS might be painfully and hilariously familiar, and maybe just a little bit too close to the bone. Take your date, see which bits make them go red in the face, then head to the bar afterwards to dissect it all, if they’re man enough!
